Members press release

Valk Welding, Netherlands - IFR-Partner

Welding Data Management checks and records welding quality

In order to check and record the quality of welding work, Panasonic offers a Welding Data Management module for its Tawers arc-welding robots. The module records the welding parameters of Panasonic Tawers welding robots during the welding process. Besides analysing the welding data, the module also offers the option of generating a report of the welding values as proof of correctly completed welding work. The Welding Data Management software module runs on the robot, interfaces with the Panasonic programming system DTPS G2 for a detailed analysis, and is suitable for MIG/MAG and TIG applications.

TAWERS, which is short for The Arc WElding Robot System, is the name of the first robot especially intended for arc-welding applications, whereby the robot and welding machine control were integrated in one 64-bit CPU. Panasonic developed this robot in close co-operation with Valk Welding. Meanwhile Valk Welding has fitted a few hundred of these welding robots that have produced an enormous increase in output and quality in the welding industry. The integration of robot and welding machine control produced a 250% faster data transfer in relation to previous generations, which formed the basis for developing digital innovations, such as SP-MAG, Arc Start lift, and Arc End lift. Besides a virtually splash-free welding image, this also produced new opportunities for high-quality MIG welding of aluminium. The integration also meant that welding-parameter data became available in digital format, which enables the control and recording of arc characteristics during the welding process. As clients increasingly demand welding-quality guarantees from their suppliers, welding-data recording is a hot topic at the moment. During the Techni Show, Valk Welding demonstrated the options and benefits of the 'Welding Data Management' integrated welding parameter recording system.

Welding Data Management has the following facilities:

vheck that the realised welding parameters are carried out within the required bandwidth (Monitoring)

record welding programmes and realised welding parameters during the day (Logging)

represent the welding characteristics (Recording)

Monitoring

The integration of robot control, wire-feed system, and power source does not only produce a faster data transfer, but also offers the opportunity to record more detailed information on the welding data. As standard, every Panasonic TAWERS system has a welding data monitoring system that records specific threshold values for welding parameters, such as current strength, voltage, and wire-feed speed. If these values are exceeded, the system produces a signal that enables the operator to intervene in time or switches off the robot automatically. It is possible to set different series in absolute values or percentages of the required parameters. For truly critical welding you can set a narrow bandwidth to check that the output parameters match the programmed parameters.

Logging

With the logging module the robot will record all welding programmes and realised welding parameters during the day. This includes for example:

One file is create for each day that can be downloaded automatically from the robot to DTPS G2 for further analysis and recording of the realised quality.

It will indicate for each line whether you remained within the set thresholds of the monitor function. Other welding errors are also logged.

Recording

Welding Recording gives a detailed record of the realised welding parameters and is intended to analyse the welding seam and the welding characteristics for each welding line and every individual weld. Errors that are deemed 'no good' by the monitoring function can be analysed in detail. With that information the welding parameters can be adjusted if necessary in order to improve the quality of the weld.

With the recording function, it is possible to track and check the welding characteristics of every weld in DTPS G2 simultaneously with the path completed by the robot.